Snap-in ball check valve



Feb. 15, 1966 H. EMRICK 3,235,098

SNAP-IN BALL CHECK VALVE Filed Nov. 1, 1963 INVENTOR HOMER EMRICK BY {M ATTOR NEYS United States Patent 3,235,098 SNAP-IN BALL CHECK VALVE Homer Emriclr, Kalamazoo, Mich., assignor to Clark Equipment Company, a corporation of Michigan Filed Nov. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 320,758 7 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) My present invention relates generally to air valve assemblies and more particularly to snap-in ball check valve assemblies.

It is. a primary object of my present invention to provide an air check valve device comprising a housing that is compressible radially inwardly during insertion into an aperture in a wall memberwhereby the same is snapped into a locked position in the wall.

It is another object of my present invention to provide an air check valve device, as described, which is adapted to be incorporated in an air-in-floor material handling system of the type in which pressure is supplied to air valves mounted in a floor for providing a thin film of air between the floor and a load,

It is a further object of my present invention to provide an air check valve device, as described, which may be in stalled in the floor of an air-in-floor system from the top surface of the floor by simply snapping the valve device into position in a suitable opening provided in the floor for such purpose.

It is a still further object of my present invention to provide an air check valve device, as described, which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, which may be easily and quickly installed in a floor, and which requires minimum maintenance.

In accomplishing these objects, I propose to provide an air valve device comprising a generally tubular hollow valve housing having at one end thereof a valve seat and at the other end thereof a spring seat. A valve member is arranged in the valve housing to engage the valve seat, and spring means, which at one end abuts the valve memher and at the other end the spring seat, serves to normally bias the valve member into engagement with the valve seat. The valve housing is made of a suitable material so that it is compressible radially inwardly during insertion into the floor opening whereby the same is snapped into a locked position in the floor. When installed in a floor, the top surface of the valve housing is arranged to liesubstantially in the plane of the top surface of the floor, and the valve member is disposed so that it will project above the plane of the top surface of the floor when in engagement with the valve seat. The valve member is actuatable by a loaded pallet being moved across the door for releasing air-under pressure from ducts beneath the top floor surface to thereby form a thin film between the bottom of the pallet and the floor surface so as to facilitate movement of the loaded pallet. An airin-fioor material handling system of the type with which the air check valve assembly of my present invention may be incorporated is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Johnny T. Watters, Serial No. 320,884,

filed November 1, 1963.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and using devices in accordance with the principles of my present invention, I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawings each of the plurality of plank members which comprise the floor of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view, on a further enlarged scale, of a portion of the floor of FIGURE 1, and illustrates an air check valve assembly incorporating the principles of my present invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the floor and air valve assembly of FIGURE 3, taken substantially along the line 44 in FIGURE 3, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 a fragmentary portion of a fioor comprising part of an air-in-floor material handling system. The floor It may be embodied in stationary. installations, such as warehouses, or in movable equipment, such as trailers, railroad cars, and the like. For a completedescription of the construction and operation of an air-in-floor mate-rial handling system of the type in which the floor 10 is incorporated, reference may be had to the copending application of Johnny T. Watters, Serial No. 320,884, filed November 1, 1963.

The floor 10 is comprised of a plurality of floor planks 11 which extend in a longitudinal direction and which are arranged side-by-side in an interlocking relationship. Each plank 11, as shown in FIGURE 2, comprises a top wall 12, a bottom wall 13, and a plurality of vertical channel divider walls 14 which define. a plurality of longitudinal ducts or channels 15. Each of the planks 11 is provided along one longitudinal side edge with a maleinterlocking member 16 and along its other longitudinal side edge with a female interlocking member 17.

.A plurality of air check valve assemblies 18 are in stalled at various preselected locations in the top wall 12 of the floor planks 11. When air under pressure is directed through the ducts 15 and a loaded pallet or the like is positioned on the floor 10, the loaded pallet will actuate the check valve 18 and effect release of pressurized air thereby causing the pallet and load to be floated on a thin film of air whereby aheavy load may be moved across the floor with a minimum of effort. Details concerning the general manner in which air under pressure is selectively introduced into the ducts 15, and the specific manner in which a portion of the floor 10 may be selectively energized without the necessity of energizing the entire floor, are disclosed in the aforesaid copending application of Johnny T. Watters.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, each air check valve device 18 comprises a generally tubular valve cage or housing 19 havinga body portion 20, an annular collar portion21 at the upper endthereof, and an inwardly directed annular flange portion 22 at the lower end thereof that serves to define an annular horizontal spring seat 23 and a circular bottom housing aperture 24. The body portion 20 has a conical downwardly tapered exte: rior surfaceZS and a cylindrical interior surface 26, and formed through the walls thereof are a plurality of circumferentially spaced side apertures 27. The collar portion 21 has an inverted truncated conical exterior surface 28 that merges with the body portion 24) whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion 29. The collar portion 2-1 also has a cylindrical inner surface 30, and a truncated conical inner surface 31 intermediate of the cylindrical surfaces 26 and 3%. An annular sealing surface or valve seat32 is definedsubstantiallyalong the line of intersection of the cylindrical surface 30' and the conical surface 31 of the collar portion 21. The housing 19 is fabricated of a yieldable or plastic material such as: nylon, and is formed with the aforementioned bottom aperture 24 and side apertures 27, so that the housing is radially inwardly compressible for insertion into an opening adapted to hold the same. Also, the configuration of the housing 19 is such that it may be inexpensively made in one piece by injection molding procedures. Disposed within the housing 19 is a valve member 33, preferably in the form of a chrome, steel or stainless steel sphere or ball, which is arranged to engage the valve seat 32 for closing the opening in the collar portion 21 defined by the cylindrical surface 39. The valve member 33 is normally biased into engagement with the valve seat 37. by spring means 34 preferably in the form of a conical helical compression coil spring. The spring member 34 at its upper end abuts the underside of the valve member 33 and at its lower end abuts and is supported by the spring seat 23.

Each of the plank members 11 is provided with a plurality of countersunk holes 35 (one of which is shown in FIGURE 4) for accommodating the air check valves 18. The holes 35 are formed in the top walls 12 of the floor planks so as to communicate with the corresponding underlying air ducts 15. Each hole 35 has an inverted truncated conical inner surface that is arranged to receive and engage the external conical surface 28 of the collar portion 21 of a valve 18. A valve 18 may be installed in a plank opening 35 by simply pressing the housing 19 downwardly until it snaps into the self-locking position shown in FIGURE 4. During installation, the body portion 20 is compressed radially inwardly by the lower margin of the plank opening 35 until the shoulder portion 29 clears the opening and springs radially outwardly beneath the lower surface of the top plank wall 12. In the position shown in FIGURE 4, the valve 18 is locked firmly in place, resists all forces tending to dislodge it, and can be removed only with great difficulty.

When a valve assembly 18 is properly installed in one of the floor plank openings 35, the valve housing 19 projects downwardly into the corresponding air duct in spaced relation to the side walls 14 and bottom wall 13 of the duct as shown in FIGURE 2. The upper surface of the collar portion 21 of the housing 19 lies substantially in the plane of, but preferably slightly below, the top surface of the floor plank 11 as shown in FIGURE 4, and the ball valve 33 projects above the top surface of the floor plank 11. In this position, the ball valve 33 is adapted to be depressed by a loaded pallet positioned over the corresponding floor sect-ion whereby the valve 33 is moved away from engagement with the valve seat 32 and air under pressure is thereby released from the duct 15. Such air serves to form a thin film between the bottom of the pallet and the top surface of the floor thus lifting the pallet a very slight distance off of the floor. As a result of the pallet and load being floated on a thin film of air, a heavy load may be moved across the fioor with a minimum of effort.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that I have provided an air check valve device which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, which may be easily and quickly installed in a floor from the top surface thereof, which is self-locking in position, and which requires minimum maintenance because of its simplicity of construction.

While I have shown and described what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of my present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. An air valve device comprising a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof, said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom walls of said body portion whereby the same is compressible radially inwardly, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface, a valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said sealing surface, and compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said sealing surface.

2. An air valve device comprising a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion with a collar portion at the upper end thereof and a spring seat at the bottom end thereof, said body portion having a conical downwardly tapered exterior surface, said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom walls of said body portion whereby the same is compressible radially inwardly, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which along one edge thereof serves to define an annular valve seat, a spherical valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said valve seat, compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said valve seat, and said spring means abutting at one end thereof said valve member and at i the other end thereof said spring seat.

3. An air valve device comprising a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof, said housing being formed of a yieldable material whereby the same is compressible radially inwardly, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface, a valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said sealing surface, and compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said sealing surface.

4. An air valve device comprising a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof, said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom walls of said body portion whereby the same is compressible radially inwardly, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface, a valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said sealing surface, and compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said sealing surface.

5. For use with a hollow floor plank having air duct means formed therein and having at least one aperture formed in its top wall, an air valve device comprising a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom Walls of said body portion so that said housing is compressible radially inwardly during insertion into the aperture whereby said collar portion is snapped into a locked position in the floor plank, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface, a valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said sealing surface, compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said sealing surface, and said valve member being disposed so that it will project beyond the plane of the exterior surface of the top wall of the floor plank when engaged against said sealing surface.

6. For use in an air-in-floor system of the type where air under pressure is supplied to air valves mounted in a floor for providing a thin film of air between the floor r and a load, the improvement comprising, in combination,

5 a hollow floor plank having air duct means formed therein and having a plurality of apertures formed in its top wall, a plurality of air valve devices one for insertion in each of said apertures, and each of said air valve devices being comprised of a generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom walls of said body portion so that said housing is compressible radially inwardly during insertion into said aperture whereby said collar portion is snapped into a locked position in said plank, said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface, a valve member within said housing and arranged to engage said sealing surface, and compression spring means within said housing for normally biasing said valve member into engagement with said 2 searing surface.

7. A generally tubular valve housing having a body portion and a collar portion at the upper end thereof,

said housing being formed of a yieldable material and having apertures formed in the side and bottom walls of said body portion whereby the same is compressible radially inwardly, said collar portion having an inverted truncated conical exterior surface that merges with said body portion whereby to define an annular horizontal shoulder portion, and said collar portion having a cylindrical inner surface which serves to define an annular sealing surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,488,799 4/1924 Smith 137539 2,315,627 4/ 1943 Lamb. 2,971,681 2/1961 Galbierz 24-2083 X FOREIGN PATENTS 653,567 12/1962 Canada.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Examiner. 

3. AN AIR VALVE DEVICE COMPRISING A GENERALLY TUBULAR VALVE HOUSING HAVING A BODY PORTION AND A COLLAR PORTION AT THE UPPER END THEREOF, SAID HOUSING BEING FORMED OF A YIELDABLE MATERIAL WHEREBY THE SAME IS COMPRESSIBLE RADIALLY INWARDLY, SAID COLLAR PORTION HAVIG AN INVERTED TRUNCATED CONICAL EXTERIOR SURFACE THAT MERGES WITH SAID BODY PORTION WHEREBY TO DEFINE AN ANNULAR HORIZONTAL SHOULDER PORTION, SAID COLLAR PORTION HAVING A CYLINDRICAL INNER SURFACE WHICH SERVES TO DEFINE AN ANNULAR SEALING SURFACE, A VALVE MEMBER WITHIN HOUSING AND ARRANGED TO ENGAGE SAID SEALING SURFACE, AND COMPRESSSION SPRING MEANS WITHIN SAID HOUSING FOR NORMALLY BIASING SAID VALVE MEMBER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SEALING SURFACE. 